JP2006324062A - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a snap engagement method in which terminals can be electrically connected by a simple operation, and when they are snap-engaged, they are brought into close contact with each other without causing play and have low electric resistance and good electrical connection. Provide an electrical connector.
An electrical connector includes a pair of male members and female members formed of a conductive material. The female member has a female-side engagement portion 25 in the snap engagement, and the male member has a male-side engagement portion 15 that engages and engages with the female-side engagement portion in the snap engagement. The action portion when the engagement portion and the female side engagement portion are snap-engaged is an inclined engagement surface A, and a load that constantly displaces outward is applied to the female side engagement portion. Has been. Preferably, the inclined engaging surface is a tapered surface tapered toward the male member side.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector for electrically connecting terminals and wiring.

In general, a plug-socket type connector is used as a connector for electrically connecting terminals and wiring.
On the other hand, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a fitting-type terminal structure is known. In this terminal structure, a fitting-type male terminal and female terminal are provided on one side of the electrolytic capacitor. However, the fitting type male terminal and female terminal are fixed to one side of the electrolytic capacitor, and are not detachable. In addition, the contact area between the terminals cannot be increased, and the current path is small, so that a large current cannot be passed.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-36436

  As disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a type in which a fitting male terminal and a female terminal are provided on one side portion of an electrolytic capacitor. However, as a connector for electrically connecting the terminals, a snap engagement is provided. No known type of connector is known. This is because the snap-engaged connector has the great advantage that it can be easily joined without adjusting the angle around the axis, but as is apparent from the example of the snap button, for example, the female member and the male It is presumed that this is because it is considered unsuitable for electrical connection because a gap is generated between the members.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to connect the terminals electrically with a simple operation, and to make a good electrical connection with a small electrical resistance with close contact without causing play when snap-engaged. An object of the present invention is to provide a snap engagement type electrical connector.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an electrical connector comprising a pair of male members and female members formed of a conductive material, wherein the female member is a female engagement portion in snap engagement. The male member has a male side engaging portion that engages with and engages with the female side engaging portion in snap engagement, and the male side engaging portion and the female side engaging portion are snap-engaged. An electrical connector is provided in which the acting portion when mating is an inclined engaging surface, and a load is applied to the female engaging portion so as to always displace outwardly. .
In a preferred aspect, the inclined engaging surface is a tapered surface that tapers toward the male member side.

  The electrical connector of the present invention is an engaging surface having an inclined action portion when the male side engaging portion of the male member and the female side engaging portion of the female member are snap-engaged. Since it is configured to apply a load that can be displaced outwardly, it can be brought into close contact without causing backlash, the electrical resistance can be reduced, and a good electrical connection can be made. Further, since the electric resistance is reduced, problems such as heat generation do not occur. Further, since the terminals can be engaged / disengaged by a snap operation, wiring work is very simple. Accordingly, the working efficiency is greatly improved, and the maintenance is simplified, so that an excellent cost reduction effect is achieved.

  As described above, in general, in the case of snap engagement, as is clear from the example of the snap button, for example, the convex portion of the male member is fitted into the concave portion of the female member, and the engagement state is established. Since the site of action is a point or a line, a gap is generated between the female member and the male member. It is considered that the gap is formed in this way in order to absorb an error in the mounting pitch and to obtain a feel when engaged, for example, in the case of a snap button for clothes. Further, in the case of a snap button for clothes, it is necessary to make it easier to perform an operation of releasing the engagement than to frequently make the engagement operation easier. As a result, play occurs and the electrical resistance increases, which is not suitable for electrical connection. Further, depending on the application to be applied, there are cases where the engagement is rarely disengaged. In such a case, other effective characteristics than the engagement / disengagement operability, for example, electrical conductivity as in the present invention is required. The present invention is particularly useful in such applications.

  On the other hand, according to the study by the present inventors, the action portion when the male engagement portion of the male member and the female engagement portion of the female member are snap-engaged is an inclined engagement surface, If it is configured so that a load that always displaces outward is applied to the side engagement portion, it will be found that the contact can be made without causing play, the electrical resistance can be reduced, and the electrical connection can be satisfactorily performed. The present invention has been completed.

Here, as a mode in which a load that always displaces outward is applied to the female side engaging portion, a mode in which the male side engaging portion presses the female side engaging portion, and a female side engaging portion is the male side engaging portion. A mode of pressing the joint portion and a mode in which the male side engaging portion and the female side engaging portion both press the mating side are included. In either mode, the female side engaging portion is always displaced outward. It can be understood that such a load is applied.
A particularly good engagement state is when the inclined engagement surface is a tapered surface tapered toward the male member side. In this case, since the male side engaging part is always pressed toward the space formed by the male member and the female member, the engaged state is hardly disengaged, and a good engaged state can always be maintained.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the embodiments of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.
1 and 2 show an embodiment of the electrical connector according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a male member and a female member are arranged to face each other, and FIG. 2 shows a snap engagement between the male member and the female member. It is sectional drawing which shows the state made to do.
The electrical connector 1 includes a male member 10 and a female member 20 that are attached and detached by a snap operation.

  The male member 10 includes a substantially circular flat plate-like base portion 11 having a central hole portion 12, an inner ring portion 13 which stands on a peripheral edge portion of the central hole portion 12 and functions as an attachment portion to a terminal, An annular male side engaging portion 15 is provided so as to stand up to surround the inner ring portion 13 on the outer side. An internal thread portion 14 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the inner ring portion 13.

  The annular male engagement portion 15 has a cross-sectional shape curved in a substantially S shape toward the opening side 15B at the upper end that is separated from the base portion 11. The outer side surface of the male side engaging portion 15 gradually decreases in diameter from the base end side 15A toward the opening side 15B, but starts to increase in diameter at a substantially intermediate portion. A male-side engagement recess 16 is formed at a position where the diameter is increased. After passing through the taper surface 17 whose diameter is further increased from the male side engagement recess 16, the male side guide surface 18 is formed by the taper surface which is reduced in diameter toward the opening side 15B, and can be easily inserted into the female member. It is configured as follows.

  On the other hand, like the male member, the female member 20 is erected on a substantially circular flat plate-like base portion 21 having a central hole portion 22 and a peripheral edge portion of the central hole portion 22 and functions as a mounting portion to a terminal. An inner ring portion 23 and an annular female side engaging portion 25 erected so as to surround the inner ring portion 23 near the outer side of the base portion 21 are provided. An internal thread portion 24 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the inner ring portion 23.

  The annular female side engaging portion 25 has a ring shape that gradually decreases in diameter from the base end side 25A that is continuous with the base portion 21 and is bent by being slightly enlarged in the vicinity of the opening side 25B at the upper end. The inner peripheral surface of the female engagement portion 25 gradually decreases in diameter from the base end side 25A toward the opening side 25B, but turns to increase in diameter in the middle. A tapered surface 26 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the reduced diameter portion of the female side engaging portion 25, and a female side guide surface 28 is formed by a tapered surface that expands toward the opening side 25B. Further, the female side engaging convex portion 27 is formed on the inner surface of the position where the diameter is reduced from the base end side 25A and the diameter is increased.

  In addition, the inner diameter of the opening side 25B in the female side engaging portion 25 of the female member 20 is substantially equal to or slightly larger than the outer diameter of the male side engaging recess 16 of the male member 10, and the female member It functions as an insertion guide and is configured to allow smooth insertion / engagement. The inner diameter of the female side engaging convex portion 27 of the female member 20 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the male side engaging concave portion 16 of the male member 10. The inner diameter of the fitting recess formed by the proximal inner surface of the female member 20 is substantially equal to or slightly larger than the outer diameter of the male engagement recess 16 of the male member 10.

  Here, the male member 10 and the female member 20 are formed of a conductive metal ring as a whole, for example, tough pitch copper. Such male member 10 and female member 20 including the female screw portions 14 and 24 can be formed by forging or pressing.

Next, an operation of attaching and detaching the male member 10 and the female member 20 by a snap operation will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, one side is pushed into the other from the state in which the male member 10 and the female member 20 face each other so that the male side engaging portion 15 and the female side engaging portion 25 face each other. Then, the male side guide surface 18 is guided by the female side guide surface 28 and the male side engaging portion 15 of the male member 10 is fitted into the female side engaging portion 25 of the female member 20. When further pushed in, the female-side engaging convex portion 27 is pushed open by the taper of the female-side guide surface 28 and the male-side engaging concave portion 16 gets over the female-side engaging convex portion 27. As shown in FIG. 2, the female side engaging convex portion 27 is fitted into the male side engaging concave portion 16. In this state, when the female side engaging portion 25 of the female member 10 is restored in the direction of reducing the diameter, the female side engaging convex portion 27 of the female member 20 is restrained by the male side engaging concave portion 16 of the male member 10, The male member 10 and the female member 20 are engaged.
Further, when the male member 10 and the female member 20 are pulled away from the engaged state in FIG. 2, the male member and the female member are detached from each other by the snap operation, and the engagement is released. Become.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the male side engaging convex portion 27 of the female member 20 is restrained by the male side engaging concave portion 16 of the male member 10, and the male member 10 and the female member 20 are engaged. However, the male side engaging portion 15 of the male member 10 tries to expand outward and return to its original state, and the female side engaging portion 25 of the female member 20 shrinks inward under the action of this force. To return to the original state. The surface on which these forces act is a surface where the outer tapered surface 17 of the male side engaging portion 15 and the inner tapered surface 26 of the female side engaging portion 25 come into contact, and this surface becomes the engaging surface A. As shown in FIG. 2, the engagement surface A is inclined and is a tapered surface tapered toward the male member 10 side. In this case, the male engagement portion 15 is always pressed toward the space formed by the male member 10 and the female member 20, so that the engagement state is not easily released and a good engagement state is always obtained. Can be maintained. The greater the inclination angle of the engagement surface A, the more difficult it is to disengage. Further, since the engagement area is large, the area where electricity is conducted increases accordingly. As a result, it adheres without generating backlash, electrical resistance is reduced, and electrical connection can be performed satisfactorily.

Next, attachment of the male member 10 and the female member 20 having such a configuration to terminals will be described.
The male member 10 and the female member 20 have the female screw portions 14 and 24 formed on the inner peripheral surfaces of the inner ring portions 13 and 23, respectively, and therefore when the female screw portion 31 is already formed on the terminals 30a and 30b, As shown in FIG. 3, the female screw portions 14 and 24 provided on the inner ring portions 13 and 23 of the connector 1 (male member 10 and female member 20) are screwed into the male screw portions 31 of the terminals 30a and 30b.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, the male member 10 and the female member 20 of the connector 1 are snap-fitted so that they are formed of conductive members (for example, tough pitch copper). Terminals 30a and 30b are electrically connected.
Further, since the inner ring portions 13 and 23 and the terminals 30a and 30b are screwed together by the screw portions, the contact area is increased by the unevenness of the screw thread as compared with a case where the inner ring portions 13 and 23 and the terminals 30a and 30b are simply contacted by the flat surface of the end surface of the terminal. As the contact area is increased in this way, the electrical resistance is reduced, and electricity is energized well. Further, since the electric resistance is reduced, problems such as heat generation do not occur.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Of course, it may change variously within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.
For example, in the said embodiment, although the internal thread part 14 and 24 is provided in the internal peripheral surface of the center hole parts 12 and 22 of the male member 10 and the female member 20, it is comprised so that it can be screwed into a screwed terminal as it is. The base portion can be formed into an arbitrary shape according to the application target, and any coupling means such as welding or caulking can be employed.

  In addition, the inner ring part 13 of the male member 10, the male side engaging part 15, and the inner ring part 23 and the female side engaging part 25 of the female member 20 have a continuous ring shape. In order to provide elasticity, slits or notches may be provided in the axial direction, and their shapes, sizes, positions, etc. can be variously changed. Further, the engaging portions of the male member and the female member are in the male engaging portion 15 and the female engaging portion 25, and the adjustment of the engaging force and the engaging / disengaging force is possible by correcting the shape of the engaging portion. It is. Further, by providing slits or notches in the male-side and female-side engaging portions 15 and female-side engaging portions 25 of the male member and the female member, elasticity is imparted. It is also possible to modify the depth, width, number, etc. of the notches. Further, the engagement force and the engagement / disengagement force can be adjusted by the inclination shape, the inclination angle, and the like of the engagement surface A.

  The electrical connector of the present invention can be used very simply and advantageously for electrical connection between various wirings and terminals.

It is sectional drawing of the state which has arrange | positioned the male member and female member of one embodiment of the electrical connector of this invention facing each other. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which made the male member and female member of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1 snap-engage. It is sectional drawing of the state which attached the male member and female member of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1 to the terminal. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which made the male member and female member of the connector attached to the terminal shown in FIG. 3 snap-engaged.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electrical connector 10 ... Male member 11, 21 ... Base part 12, 22 Center hole part 13, 23 ... Inner ring part 14, 24 ... Female thread part 15 ... Male side engaging part 20 ... Female member 25 ... Female side engaging part

Claims (2)

An electrical connector (1) comprising a pair of male members (10) and female members (20) formed of a conductive material, wherein the female member (20) is a female side engaging portion (25) in snap engagement. ), And the male member (10) has a male side engaging portion (15) that engages and engages with the female side engaging portion in snap engagement, and the male side engaging portion and the female side The action portion when snap-engaging with the engaging portion is an inclined engaging surface, and is configured so that a load that always displaces outward is applied to the female-side engaging portion (25). An electrical connector featuring. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the inclined engagement surface is a tapered surface tapered toward the male member side.

Images